It does, an apparent dead end! And there are the mountains, for me a very unconvincing scene, as the Prisoner appears to be looking down on the mountains, which is impossible when you consider the fact that the Village is at sea level!
BCNU
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Pictorial Prisoner
It does, an apparent dead end! And there are the mountains, for me a very unconvincing scene, as the Prisoner appears to be looking down on the mountains, which is impossible when you consider the fact that the Village is at sea level!
BCNU
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We can be sure that the Village would have ensured that No. 6, because he was so important, on his escape route remained unhurt. Thus, the milkman who replaces the aircraft pilot was clearly a Village agent to eventually eject No. 6 from the plane and back into the Village again. Was No. 6's former office aware of that? The role of the gun runners was a bit more delicate as they had to take care of No. 6 on his raft (e.g. from being swept overboard) while having to avoid disclosing themselves as belonging to "them". Ms. Butterworth is revealed to be No. 2 in the end so it can be concluded that almost every detail had to be considered (his car, the interior of his London home) in order to make the ploy work. Of course, for us viewers this fact didn't have to be too obvious.
ReplyDeleteNow, one interesting question remains: why didn't No. 6 pick up one of the taxis and drive away in the first place instead of embarking on a rather dangerous journey on sea? As there were full oil canisters he might also have discovered petrol tanks or emptied the other taxis to fuel up his own. In fact, that's what he was doing but had to give up for some reason. It isn't made particularly clear but he reaches a vantage point which allows him a further view of the landscape. As David writes, it is a very unconvincing stock image of unsurmountable mountains that we see. And it must have been this sight that deterred him, getting stuck with his car. Anyway, it would have been an even more exciting episode to watch if this escape step had been worked out more in-depth. - BCNU!
Sorry, the first paragraph was lost:
Delete"Returns" is one the most intelligent and challenging episodes. Its cyclical structure has been interpreted and compared with the mythical Homer Odyssey, leaving home, adventurous journey, wandering and searching, returning home in the end. The episode stands out also because of its non-verbal first third or so with only the imagery ruling.
Hello Arno,
DeleteIt's difficult to say whether or not the Colonel and Thorpe were aware of the milkman who replaced the Group Captain as pilot of the Glostor Meteor. Amnd was the Group Captain in on it as well? If he wasn't, then surely he would have some explaining to do when the plane and Number 6 were not heard of again.
Mrs Butterworth was clearly an agent of the Village, turning out to be Number 2 in the end. Was she the Number 2 at the beginning of 'Many Happy returns,' or had she only recently taken up her term of office in time for the Prisoner's unceremonious return to the Village?
I quite agree with your comment about why Number 6 didn't use the taxi to drive away from the Village. That shot of the mountains simply doesn't work for me, and there was plenty of open countryside Number 6 could have driven through. And as you said, he found a fuel dump, because of the barrels of oil he emptied down the drain, so why not barrels of petrol?
Also I find myself in agreement with you when you said 'Many Happy Returns' is "cyclical." Meaning the Prisoner ends back where he started from, rather in the same way the whole series of 'The Prisoner' is cyclical, the ending of 'Fall Out,' being the beginning of 'Arrival.' So much so, that when in the following episode when Number 6 tells the gardener placing a window box at his window in 'Dance of the Dead' "I'm new here,' that is perfectly correct, seeing as Number 6 has recently arrived in the Village in 'Many Happy Returns!'
Kind regards
David
BCNU